All the Stars
by capsiclerogers
Summary: One night, Tony finds Steve out in the balcony of the Stark tower watching the stars as he thinks about his life before getting frozen for 70 years. Steve x Tony friendship. One-shot. Rated T for swearing.


**Eep, this is my first Avengers fic. This is so intimidating because this fandom has some really remarkable writers.  
****I ship Steve x Tony so hard, wow, it kind of hurts, but I have to say that this isn't really slash.  
It's more like friendship, but I guess if you squint, it could be seen as _pre-slash_? :D  
Anyway, it's just really fluffy friendship stuff. Hope it's not completely terrible.**

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After the epic battle with Loki that nearly destroyed New York City, they all went their separate ways. Well, sort of. Thor took Loki and the Tesseract back to Asgard, Bruce got his own apartment in a calmer part of New York, somewhere in the outskirts of the city, Natasha and Clint back to S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters, and Tony back to his Stark tower. Steve, however, didn't have any place to go, so being the great man he is, Tony invited Steve to stay at his tower. Okay, maybe it wasn't _entirely_ Tony's idea, more like Pepper's, but if she wasn't going to take credit for it Tony would. At first, Steve refused the offer and stayed at the headquarters for a few nights, but the rooms there were depressing and much too cramped for a big guy like Steve, so Tony had to practically drag him by the ear. So now, Steve lived with Tony. And Pepper, but she was out of town handling Stark Industries business affairs.

To say that Tony and Steve living together and being the only two people in such a huge building was awkward was such an understatement. From the start, they've gotten off on the wrong foot and the tension was still practically tangible. They didn't have much to talk about. Tony was a very modern man, Steve was not. Tony liked to have fun, Steve killed anything remotely interesting. He just walked around with that stoic face of his, with nothing much to say. Actually now that Tony thought about it, Steve wasn't home for most of the time, just at night. Having that established, he usually worked his nights away, not that he never did before. But now he was being careful that he didn't run into the super soldier, just to avoid awkwardness. He made a mental note to scold Pepper for talking him into inviting the old coot to stay at the tower when she came back.

One night, Tony left his workroom to get a cup of scotch. He had been working on a prototype for a newer version of the Stark phone, but he couldn't for the life of him figure out why the hologram function wasn't working. Actually, more accurately, why the hologram function kept short circuiting the contraption and bursting into flames. He ran his hands through his dark hark, groaning and setting the heap of sizzled metal and wires onto his desk. A drink sounded great right now. He flicked his eyes to the clock hanging on the wall, which read 3:29 AM. JARVIS had shut down for the night, and he highly doubted Steve would be up at such a late (or early?) time. He marched upstairs and went behind the bar, pouring alcohol from a frosted glass bottle into a glass cup. After pouring his drink, he headed towards his workroom, casually scanning his dark, quiet surroundings, and even at the full moon that was in full view due to the glass window walls, the only source of light in the dark room. He stopped short when his eyes spotted a man sitting outside on the balcony, huddling his knees and staring at the stars. Tony frowned, and for some reason unknown to him, he slowly began to advance towards the patio. He pushed open the glass door that connected the balcony, the door making a barely audible squeaking sound. Apparently, Steve had sensitive ears because his head jerked toward Tony.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Tony mumbled, strolling up to the superhero.

Steve didn't respond; he only looked away and gazed at the stars again, eyes full of emotions that Tony couldn't quite figure out. There definitely was some loneliness and sadness, but the blue eyes also held a certain twinkle in them. All very confusing to Tony; he wasn't great with reading other people's emotions to begin with anyway. He didn't know whether to put a hand on Steve's shoulder to comfort him for just leave him alone. After a few dead silent moments, Tony clicked his tongue and cleared his throat, cold drink still in his hand. "I'll be going then. Good night, Cap."

He whirled around, ready to go back inside, but a strangled voice managed, "Wait."

Tony turned to face Steve again, who was staring straight into Tony's dark eyes, almost longingly.

"Is there something you wanted to talk about?"

It probably sounded impatient, or even sarcastic, but Tony swore that it wasn't. It was a genuine question. Yeah, he wasn't experienced with this whole comfort system and shit like that, but he could try he guessed.

Steve pondered for a moment, wearing his thinking face (or as Tony called it, his pooping face). "A-actually, yeah, if you don't mind."

Tony took that as a cue to sit down on the ground beside his teammate, placing his cup on the concrete with a clink. He pulled his pajama-clad legs into his chest, imitating Steve, and followed Steve's line of sight to the cluster of stars he was so fixated on.

"It's so hard," Steve suddenly whispered, voice breaking.

Tony didn't understand what he meant. He gave him a confused look, silently urging him to clarify and continue.

"Do you have any idea what it's like to just wake up 70 years later to a large, confusing world with no one by your side? I mean, people that you knew and loved are already dead."

Tony honestly didn't. He slightly shook his head. He heard Steve sniffle.

"And then some guy from the government whisks you away to defend the world, a world that I couldn't adjust to yet because I didn't have the time—the time to have everything sink in and process what just happened in the past 70 years." Steve turned his head sharply to Tony, eyes welling up with tears threatening to fall. He swallowed thickly and shuddered a breath. Then he laughed lightly, which initially scared the hell out of Tony. He was scared Steve might've gone insane from sorrow. "I'm sorry, Tony."

"For what?" Tony asked. It felt weird to speak; his voice sounded so far and foreign after remaining silent for a while.

"I know I gave you a lot of trouble. I'm an old-fashioned guy, what can I say?" he chuckled, not so darkly this time, which was a beautiful sound. "I know you think I'm outdated, and my plans are outdated, but I'm trying. I promise."

Suddenly, Tony felt like an asshole. He didn't nearly understand how difficult it must've been for Steve to suddenly wake up and have everything he's ever known and everyone he's ever loved just gone, dead. No, he didn't even bother to. His guilt quickly transformed to anger. Angry that Steve apologized when he had no reason to. Why was Steve such a good person, apologizing for shit he doesn't need to? Guess that's why he's Captain fucking America. So he said just that. "God, Steve, you make me hate myself you know that?"

Steve stares at him, all serious-like, with worry and everything on his face. "What do you mean?"

"You're such a God damned good guy. You know, my dad used to talk about you _all the time_. How great you were, blah blah blah, and I grew up just idolizing you. And then the way you looked at me, like you were disappointed I wasn't Howard—that killed me. Of course, you tell anyone this and I would have to kill you."

Steve nodded and cracked a sorry smile. "Tony, really, I am sorry. I promise you that I'll—"

"Promise me that you'll just be okay. Don't try to change your ways; in fact, without you we all would've died against Loki. And shut up, because I should be sorry. Now let's stop making me look bad, alright? Tell me why you're out here at three—no, four— in the morning staring at the sky."

Steve dropped his gaze and heaved a sigh. "I don't know, I like the stars. It's the illusion of permanence, I think. Is that sad?"

"No," Tony said, again, quite honest. He surprised himself multiple times tonight with the amount of truth that has made it passed his lips. "It makes sense."

They locked eyes with each other, not uttering a word for a few minutes. It wasn't uncomfortable or tense, it was just relaxing. Finally, Tony broke the silence.

"I know we've been on pretty bad terms, but aside from your sappiness, I guess you're pretty alright."

Steve grinned at that, rolling his eyes. "Stark," he half chuckled.

"Rogers." Tony picked up his drink and put it to his mouth. "Want some?"

"I don't drink."

Tony groaned, rolling his eyes at Steve now. "Oh right, I forgot. Maybe I should reevaluate this friendship offer. Is it too late to take that back?"

Steve elbowed Tony in the arm playfully. "Oh, shut up."

Tony blinked at Steve, pretending to be offended, which only made Steve rumble more with laughter.

"I'm growing annoyingly fond of this heart-to-heart talking and it's making me a little nauseous. Well, and it's getting pretty cold, so let's go back inside."

"Sure," Steve grunted in agreement.

The two got up from the ground and made their way back into the tower. Tony was about to make his way to his workroom again until a large hand grabbed his elbow. He was yanked back and he spun around to face Steve.

"Tony, get some sleep," he ordered, authority in his voice.

"I will, jeez Mom, lay off me."

"Tony, I'm not joking. You've been working for days straight. Just get some rest."

"Fine, I will."

Steve continued to stare straight at Tony, eyes never wavering. "Promise me."

Tony let out a heavy breath. "I promise."

Steve gave a solemn nod, lips pressed into a straight line. "Good night."

"Good night."

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**I feel like this could potentially be a multi-chapter, and slowly make its way towards slash.  
****So I don't know, it's all up to you guys. :)**

**Reviews are cool by the way.**


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